Turtle excluders not required for Skimmer-Trawlers

Skimmer-trawl operators will not be required to outfit their nets with turtle-excluder devices, following research showing that a majority of the endangered reptiles snagged as bycatch in the shallow-water shrimpers’ nets were small enough to slip through the contraptions.

Skimmer-trawl operators will not be required to outfit their nets with turtle-excluder devices, following research showing that a majority of the endangered reptiles snagged as bycatch in the shallow-water shrimpers’ nets were small enough to slip through the contraptions.

"Fifty-eight percent of those turtles were small enough to fit through the current legal size of the bars on TEDs," said Bob Hoffman, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s endangered species branch. "The legal maximum space between the bars is 4 inches, so more than half of the turtles would possibly fit through that space and go back to the end of the net, thereby not being saved."

TEDs, a grid of bars in a trawl net that allows trapped sea turtles to escape unscathed, are currently required on only certain types of boats, including otter trawls, which trail nets from the rear of the boat along the ocean floor. Skimmer trawls, which drag nets off the sides in shallower water, have thus far been exempt from the rule.

NOAA officials had previously thought that implementing tow-time restrictions – that is, time limits for the amount of time skimmer-trawl operators could have their nets in the water – would be enough to protect turtles.

"They were in theory bringing their catch on deck more often," Hoffman said. "An otter trawl will trawl for upwards of two to four hours. These guys were only trawling for 20 to 30 minutes."

The proposed change came about after hundreds of dead sea turtles began washing ashore in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the major of skimmer trawls fish. Necropsies on the turtles showed that the primary cause of death was forced submergence, or drowning, indicating that the reptiles were getting caught in nets, Hoffman said.

"It turned out that tow times weren't being followed, and they're very difficult to enforce," he said. "So more turtles were, basically, drowning."

NOAA officials expected a final answer on the rule change on Nov. 27, but observers riding on skimmer trawls in the Gulf found that the TEDs were ineffective in shallower water. Turtles that congregate there are smaller, Hoffman said, and were slipping through the devices.

"During the observation period, skimmer trawls caught 24 turtles, and of those 24, one had died from being caught," Hoffman said. "And 58 percent of those would have fit through the TED. What we're doing now is looking at smaller bar-spacing, figuring out what size we need, and doing the testing on that to move forward with a new proposed rule as soon as we can."

There's no time frame on when the rule may be amended and proposed, but it's unlikely that the equipment would be prohibitively expensive. Typically, TEDs cost around between $300 and $400 apiece.

Page 2 of 2 - And the rule shouldn't affect many shrimpers in North Carolina. There are just 33 skimmers in the state, comprising less than 10 percent of the total 390-vessel trawl fleet, according to data from the state Division of Marine Fisheries.

"Most of those are up in Pamlico Sound in shallower waters," said Danny Galloway, a Varnamtown shrimper who operates an otter trawl. "There's not enough area to work them here because we don't have that much shallow water around."